From first check to follow-on

What actually happens when you pitch us, after we wire, and across the life of the company. The operating manual.

1. First contact

Inbound. Email contact@xenith.vc with a paragraph on what you're building, who you are, and what round you're raising. We read every memo. You hear back within five business days.

Warm intros. Welcome, never required. We've written first checks into founders who pitched cold three times before we said yes. The intro path doesn't change our diligence, just our calendar.

2. Diligence

If we're interested, the first call is 30 minutes with one of the partners. If that goes well, a second call with the wider team within two weeks. We don't run founders through a 12-call process. By the third meeting we've either committed or we haven't.

Diligence is two things. Founder reference calls with people who've worked with you. Technical and market depth led by one of our research leads. We share what we find with you. If we have concerns you hear them before we make a decision, not after.

3. Term sheet

If we're leading, we send a clean term sheet. Standard founder-friendly terms, no aggressive liquidation preference, no super-pro-rata. Industry-standard model docs.

If we're co-investing, we tell you who else we want in the round and why. We've never tried to elbow another fund out of a deal and we expect the same back.

4. Post-investment

Within the first week of wire.

Onboarding call. One hour with the partner who led. We map your top three priorities for the next 90 days and pick exactly two ways we can help in that window.

Network access. A custom intro list, typically 5 to 15 people in our network plus warm intros to portfolio founders in adjacent space.

Operating support. Token economics review where relevant. Legal pointers. Recruiting help. GTM workshopping. Whatever the company needs in the early innings.

5. Follow-on

We reserve 1.5 to 2x the initial check. We exercise pro-rata when conviction is high and the round is well priced, not by default. If we're not following on we explain why early enough that it doesn't surprise the lead.

6. Through the cycle

We've held positions through three full cycles. We don't dump in down markets. We don't push for early exits. We've sat as observers for seven years and counting on a handful of companies. Patience is part of the offer.